Coffee and Muffins
by Felineyx
Summary: Alice is looking for someone to love, while Jasper is trying to turn his back on a hard relationship. Can a selection of coffee, muffins and a nosy Italian bring their stories together? AU/AH. May be mildly OOC. Rating may go up to T.
1. Chapter 1

"Another row last night?" Mario asked, looking down at the young man sympathetically. He was in his mid to late twenties, with blonde hair and dark circles underneath his eyes.

"You could say that," he replied in a weary tone.

"I'm telling you Jasper, that girl is no good for you! You used to come in here all smiles and happy, and now you're just tired and depressed, all the time. She's destroying your soul, man!" Mario spoke with an exaggerated Italian accent.

"Please, Mario. I'll deal with it in my own time. I just need to wait for her to take no for an answer." Jasper's head sank into his hands as he spoke.

"Look, I'm sorry Rosalie but I don't care what you think! And stop calling me that!" A new voice entered the cafe, but it didn't seem to attract the attention of Jasper or Mario. "Fine then, be like that! Love you too."

"Ten dollars says they're sisters," Jasper murmured quietly, pulling out a newspaper.

"You're on," Mario agreed, shaking him by the hand. "Hey kid, what can I get you?" he added, addressing the girl.

"Uh...cappuccino please," she replied, not glancing up. Jasper took the opportunity to get a closer look at her. She was a little over five feet tall, with short black hair and some of the palest skin Jasper had ever seen.

"Here you go," Mario said, passing her the drink. He waved away her hand as she went to give him her money. "Hey, you give me a decent story, you have this one on the house. We've been trying to work you out for weeks now."

"Who's we?" the girl asked skeptically.

"Jasper and I, of course! There's nobody else ever in here at this time of the morning."

"Not since Ellie the Professional moved to New York, anyway," Jasper added, flipping his paper over.

"Well..." She began uncertainly. "Not much to tell really. Grew up over near Seattle, little town called Forks with my brother Edward. Moved on out here because I got sick of so much rain. Gets a little monotonous, don't you think?"

"Yeah. I went there once or twice when I was younger to see an old friend. Had to say, I preferred Texas every time." Jasper's reply was unexpected, and the girl looked at him with the expression of somebody who couldn't quite place another person.

"What was your friend's name?" she asked.

"Emmett," Jasper replied, his face suggesting that he didn't see where she was going with this.

"I knew it! I knew I recognised your face from somewhere! I was the little girl in the house when you and Emmett picked up Edward that one time! Do you remember?" The girl almost bounced, such was her excitement.

"Um...no. I never came into the house that day," Jasper said, looking confused and apologetic.

"I was outside. I watched you from the big oak tree," she explained.

"Ah," Jasper made the noise of pretending to understand.

"Anyway, thanks for the coffee!" she said, grabbing her coat from the stool and heading towards the door.

"Hey kid, wait!" Mario called. The girl turned. "What's your name?"

"Alice," she replied, opening the door and leaving the bell over it ringing in her wake.

"Alice, hmm?" Mario said, looking in Jasper's direction.

"Don't even go there, Mario. Just don't, ok?" Jasper held up his hands in front of himself to protect himself from the barrage he knew was coming.

"You were nicer to her than you were to Ellie the Professional," Mario pointed out. "And you already knew her."

"So?" Jasper shrugged.

"And she is a damn sight nicer than that girl you've got at the moment, kid. Now she really needs to get that stick out of her-"

"Mario! Please, enough." Jasper interrupted him before he could complete the sentence.

"Ok, ok. I'll leave it. For now." Mario held his hands up in defeat. "But she's pretty, eh?"

"Enough!" Jasper half-laughed. "I have to go now, my shift starts in ten. I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?"

"Yeah," Mario grinned, ducking beneath the counter for a second. "Here, take this," he said, presenting Jasper with a muffin. "You need to eat, man."

"Thanks, Mario."

---

**A.N. Not sure how this will go down. Please review.**

**Fee x**


	2. Chapter 2

It was barely dawn by the time Alice reached the cafe next morning, but Jasper and the owner were in there already. What were they - insomniacs or something? Neither of them seemed to notice her until she came in through the door.

"Alice! Good to see you again," the owner called, starting up a coffee machine. "Same as yesterday?"

"What?" Alice asked, confused.

"Same order. Cappuccino, wasn't it?"

"Oh, yeah. Please." Alice made her way over to the bar, dragging out one of the stools, a discreet distance away from Jasper, who was slumped over his own coffee. The guy looked seriously exhausted, but he was going to get a crick in his neck if he slept like that. Before she'd even made the conscious decision, she leaned over and poked him.

"Huh. G'way, Maria," he mumbled, shifting position and going right back to sleep.

"Hey, leave him be, Alice. He'll come to in time, don't you worry. He does this every day and I don't blame him."

"Sorry," she muttered, eyes downcast. "So, what's his story?"

"He's been coming in here a while. He used to come in with his girlfriend, back when she was nice and human. Then she just kind of flipped. One too many vodkas, if you catch my drift. She's not a pleasant drunk. I don't think he's slept in his own bed for about six months now - in fact, I'm not even sure he's actually slept in that long."

"Hey, Mario. It's not her fault. Leave off it, yeah?" Alice started as Jasper spoke. He hadn't been as deeply asleep as she'd thought.

"No, Jasper. While you are still an employee, albeit part-time, I have a duty of care to you."

"At work, Mario. You've no right to pry into my private life, and even less to tell other people about it. No more, you understand?"

"Fine, fine. You know what I think of her." Mario conceded.

"Yes, I do and I'm sick to the back teeth of it! If I told you once I told you a thousand times, Mario, I'm dealing with it! With her. With all of it." Jasper's head sank into his hands and Mario disappeared into the back.

"Hey, are you ok?" Alice asked tentatively.

"I'm fine," Jasper snapped, and Alice flinched back. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap. But I'm fine. Honestly."

"Well, if you're sure," Alice shrugged. She was sure there was something going on in Jasper's life - for all that she didn't know him, it just didn't feel right. He seemed as though he was a genuinely good guy, just completely shattered.

"Jasper, if you don't shift you'll be late!" Mario warned, backing through a door with a plate in one hand and a takeaway bag in the other. "I know your schedule by now - it's seven fifteen. Here, have a muffin." He passed the takeaway bag to Jasper who squinted at his watch and cursed quietly.

"I was meant to start earlier than this today! I said I'd cover for Kate!" Jasper was seething at himself, stuffing the bag into a corner of his rucksack. "My ass was already on the line _before_ this..." His voice trailed off as he moved towards the door.

"Sucks to be you, Jasper. And eat that muffin before you get there!" Mario called after him. "Heaven only knows when it was you last ate," he added quietly. "Here." He passed the plate to Alice who took it gratefully.

"Any chance of my coffee, Mario?" Alice asked, picking at her muffin.

"Yeah, sure," Mario replied, shaking his head as though he was still distracted by thoughts of Jasper. He turned away from Alice quickly, trying to hide his face. He was concerned for Jasper - what he'd said to Alice earlier about Maria didn't even begin to scratch the surface. An unpleasant drunk would be easy compared to Maria. Mario barely knew the girl, but he'd seen enough of both her and Jasper's face to know that she had a temper, and that she could take it out with her fists.

"You alright?" Alice asked, having caught a glimpse of Mario's expression.

"Fine," Mario muttered. _Not so sure Jasper is though._

-----

**A.N. Yep, it's short. Is it ever anything other?**

**Review? **


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